Rise of Caracal
by Caesia
Summary: Samira is the niece, and private assassin, of Queen Bee. After the Light's plans are dismantled by the Team Queen Bee wants revenge. She sends Samira to infiltrate the Team under the guise of being a teenage vigilante called Caracal. Her only job is to destroy the Team, but things get a whole lot more complicated when she finds herself falling for the leader of the Team.
1. Chapter One

By some favorable stroke of luck Queen Bee had not attended the chaotic meeting of the Light and the Reach. The news of betrayal and of the traitorous son of Black Manta had reached her quickly though. And she was fuming that a bunch of children had been able to do so much damage in one night. She agreed with them on one point though, the Light had underestimated them.

She wasn't going to make that _mistake_ again.

Determined to retaliate in the same kind that they had she formulated a plan. It was rough and not of the kind she usually went for, but she found it fitting in a sense of ironic and twisted justice. The Team had sent one of theirs into the Light's ranks, so so would she. The smile Queen Bee sported while striding down the long and polished hall of the Biayalian palace was wickedly victorious.

The sound of fighting reached her long before she reached the outdoor courtyard. Entering the far end of the yard she could see the sparring match taking place at the other end clearly. All of the combatants were part of her royal security or private corps (a Queen _had_ to have the best intel on her opponents afterall, or just a way to ensure that overly vocal opponents wouldn't stay around long). The person she was looking for though was part of neither.

Samira was the daughter of Queen Bee's deceased younger sister. Her father had never been named, and her mother had died mysteriously shortly after the girls birth. Or at least, the press was told that she died mysteriously. The press was never told that it was most likely poison that had done the queens sister off-or that Samira even existed. Queen Bee was very happy to remain the only possible ruler of Biayalia.

But she wasn't so idiotic as to cast the child out. Instead Queen Bee took her in and gave her a place in the palace. As she grew the child was trained and molded into a loyal servant to the Queen, to do whatever the Queen asked with no questions. She was an assassin for the Queen, though Bee felt the word didn't quite encompass her well enough. The girl was viciously intelligent-enough so that the Queen would have had her quietly shot and left somewhere in the desert if not for the fact that she'd never once shown any desire to rebel against the Queen.

The Queen leaned against a wall in the shade, only straightening to a more queen-like stance when she saw Samira approaching her. The teen was painfully similar to the Queen's sister in looks, with light green eyes and straight black hair. Her skin was lighter than the Queen's by several shades, more of a honey-brown than anything.

"My Queen! If I had known you were coming I would have made sure to make myself more presentable," Samira said, casting an ashamed look at the sweat and dirt that covered her and her clothes from the sparring match. She dipped her head respectfully to the Queen, and Bee didn't miss the almost puppy-like look of adoration that beamed at her. The girl was more loyal to her than one of her thralls! It was cute, but almost annoying, in the Queens opinion.

"Do not be ashamed for training, child," the Queen spoke with an air of authority that was natural to her. "I have a mission for you. You've heard of the Justice Leagues little sidekick group, haven't you?"

"Yes, your highness. What is it that you wish me to do?" Samira asked, tilting her head slightly. For an eighteen-year-old who had an assortment of assassination, blackmailing, and information retrieval missions in her past she could seem as innocent as a puppy. The Queen blamed it on the green eyes-her sister had always been able to manipulate their parents with them. Or, at least until the Queen had figured out her own way of manipulating them.

"Infiltrate their ranks and destroy them. Take as much time as you need to do so, as long as in the end they are crippled beyond repair. Be thorough and make sure to not leave any loose ends untied,"-she gave the girl her best glare, which would have been enough to melt a glacier in one glance-"I'm leaving it to you as to how you wish to do so. You have yet to fail me, but if you do so with this it will be the last thing you do. Understood?"

Samira hadn't flinched at the threats. In her line of work they were as common as the sand in the desert. But there was something that was bothering her, the Queen could see it. "I don't wish to question you, my Queen, but what about the Martian on their team? If she reads my mind then you will be in more danger."

The Queen hadn't forgotten about the green mind-witch. Psimion had only recently recovered from the dart that the traitorous Tigress had shot him with. Her plan wouldn't work without him, but she didn't have to worry about that. "Psimion will be able to help with that," she soothed. "He has improved upon his ways since he last dealt with the martian."

That seemed to be enough to ease Samira's worries. "Your wish is my commanded then, your highness." the look of puppy-like adoration had crept back into the girls eyes, but the Queen felt no need to feed that adoration with any kind words. She had a country to rule, and a Team to watch fall.

Before anything else, Queen Bee was a woman with an agenda.

* * *

Espionage, hacking, and combat Samira could handle without batting an eye. But trying to attract the attention of the superheroes without seeming like an attention-hungry kid? That was most definitely _not_ something she had been trained for. But who was she to question her queen? So there she was, crouching on top of a shipping container in Gotham's harbor, dressed in her new guise as Caracal, teenage vigilante.

The costume was fun, but the long ears that went with it made her feel ridiculous. Though the Biayalian scientists hadn't failed to impress-the ears caught and amplified sound waves. If she wanted to Samira could have heard the heartbeats of the criminals she was about to take down. She liked the mask though-it was a tan colored metal thing that covered the top half of her face. It was stylized to look like her namesake the caracal, with white and black markings around the yellow eyes. The suit had all other sorts of goodies in it that she was excited to try. The mission promised to be interesting if nothing else.

"Yah, boss says we have tah move the cargo to'night," her attention was caught by the amplified voice of one of the gang members.

"What else would we be down here to do, idiot!" another voice hissed.

Samira crept closer along the top of the shipping containers, careful to be aware of her situation. It wasn't the criminals she was truly interested in-just attracting the attention of Gotham's local vigilante. Batman had seemed like more of the logical choice when it came to trying to get herself noticed. Gotham city was a cesspool of criminals and attracted the occasional vigilante other than the Bat. And from what she'd heard, the Bat was pretty territorial when it came to Gotham. But in the three weeks she had been there he hadn't showed up yet.

Lightly she dropped down from the top of the containers and rolled to her feet upon landing. Gasps and semi-unintelligible words fell from the thugs mouths as she strode towards them. "Sorry boys, but the only cargo being moved here tonight will be your sorry rears getting dragged to jail," she had made sure to switch her accent to an American one. The fun thing she was finding out with being a hero-type was that you could banter more freely.

"I don't think so!" the closet thug yelled, rallying the gang to fight. _What an intelligent battle cry that makes_ , Samira thought sarcastically as she slid under the swing of the thugs punch. Another thing that she was loving about her Caracal suit was that the black vambraces and attached gloves were electrified. She swung her leg low, catching the thug in the back of the knees. He fell with a whoosh of air, and before he could react she had placed her glove on his neck and activated the electricity. The thug fell still with a sizzle, alive, probably in pain, but not mortally wounded.

There were only five thugs, but they were trained just enough to be a nuisance. A kick to the face had the next one down, and a cracked rib was enough to stop the third. The fourth was downed by electrocution, while the fifth was unlucky enough to get a broken arm. Alright, so she was struggling with how to dial back her normal fighting style-but she was trying, right? Or at least that was what she told herself to try and calm her nerves as she stood among the various moaning thugs.

"Alright, let's see what your cargo was, shall we?" she asked to no one in particular, and got only a moan from the man with the broken arm in response. Sashaying over to the crate she dug the metal claws of her glove into the crate's lid. With a jerk she pried the lid off of it. " _Oh_. I didn't give you guys enough credit." she pursed her lips and rested her hand on her hip. She hadn't been expecting it to be an _arms_ shipment. It was a mixed assortment, but just from a glance she could tell that they were all on the high-powered end of guns. She'd used a couple of them before on past missions.

Her cat-ears picked up a gentle thud, but it was enough to cause Samira to tense slightly. She turned to see the Batman standing only a few yards away. Sure, she had been trying to attract his attention, but it didn't stop him from being terribly terrifying. A quick movement behind him caught her eye, and she could see the figure of who could have only been Robin standing on one of the containers. _Okay, so I get to meet both of them_.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in Gotham?" his voice was low and slightly gravely. It did justice to what she expected from someone with his reputation.

"Caracal. And I'm trying to stop things like this,"-she motioned at the open container of guns-"from getting into the wrong hands." _I hope that sounded hero-y enough_. Samira held her head high to try and convince her heart to stop beating so fast. The mix of adrenaline and the healthy dose of fear that was running through her veins could be helpful in a fight, but she didn't want to make a mistake so early on in the game.

" _What sort of name is 'Caracal'_?" her cat-ears picked up a muttering that could have only been from Robin.

Batman approached, stepping around one of the thugs to do so. Samira stepped away from the crate as he investigated to try and give him more room. "Your methods are cruel and you fight like an assassin. Who trained you?" being accused by a black-cloaked man who was standing just three feet away was intimidating, but she'd faced worse. Was it that obvious as to what she was? _I guess it is. But this plan can still work_. Samira forced herself to not react besides tilting her head slightly.

"Who trained you?" she retorted, crossing her arms defiantly.

"And your gear, it's pretty high-tech for a kid to make."

Samira decided that the best answer to that was not to answer. Instead she just gave him a flippant shrug. Taking a step back away from Batman she said, "Look it's been great meeting you and all, but I have other things to do so I'll leave this stuff with you."

With that Samira ran and vaulted herself onto the top of the nearest shipping container. She paused for a second on top of it, and that was when her cat-ears caught Batman saying, "I want you out of Gotham."

"Good luck with that!" she called back with a laugh.

As she made her way deeper into the city she ducked into an alleyway. She'd done her own research on the Batman, and he was notorious for leaving tracking devices on practically everything. Even though she expected it, it was still annoying to her when she pulled the small bat-shaped device out from where it had connected to her left vambrace. He was good-she had to admit that-Samira hadn't even seen the guy move to throw it on her.

She was tempted to crunch it under her heel, but instead she decided to make herself a bit more memorable than that. Walking onto the sidewalk she waited for a car to pass, and when it did, she tossed the tracker onto the underside of it. If Batman wanted to track something, he was going to get a wild goose chase.

* * *

" _What do you mean she doesn't exist_?" Tim's voice came over the comlink.

Bruce sighed and continued to try different search parameters on the computer. Everything came up with the same results though. And it was beginning to frustrate the world's greatest detective to no end. "Before three weeks ago there are no reports of anyone going by the name of Caracal. And no one has been reported using tech like hers. And no known cooperation is producing anything like it."

" _One more thing to add to that list_."

"What's that?" Bruce asked, truly interested. He'd sent Tim to follow the tracer he had planted since it was a fairly simple job as long as he stayed out of sight.

" _She ditched the tracer, I just found it on a car in Blüdhaven_." Tim's voice was as close to frustrated as it usually got.

Bruce didn't answer immediately, just let his head rest against the heel of his hands for a long second. "Come home," he ordered. He had a feeling that this was going to turn into a problem if not dealt with carefully. At best she was just a kid with unusual training trying to do good in the world. At worst, she was a rogue assassin. And neither were something that boded well.

If nothing more Caracal was someone he needed to watch and monitor carefully.

* * *

 _So this is a story idea that just wouldn't leave me alone, and I've been wanting to use Queen Bee in a story so Caracal happened. This will turn into a Kaldur X Oc story eventually, but I'm not going to rush that part of the story. I really do appreciate constructive criticism and any reviews at all really! -C_


	2. Chapter Two

In the two weeks since she'd first met Batman Caracal had run into him three more times. And each time it was the same thing. _Who are you? Who trained you? What are you doing in Gotham?_ Samira was beginning to silently doubt that her plan was going to work as well as she'd hoped. But she was unwilling to give up just so soon. Things like this took time-and her Queen had given no deadline.

Crouching on the edge of a business building she tuned her mechanical cat-ears to listen for any noise of distress (which she was finding was disturbingly common in Gotham). For a city that had a fabled vigilante like Batman constantly running around it, it somehow still managed to have a thriving criminal population. At first she only heard the sound of the city's nightlife, cars, the general chatter of people, and faint music coming from a club. But then she caught the all to familiar shriek of someone in trouble echoing from nearby.

Jumping (and sometimes clawing) her way from rooftop to rooftop she slid to a halt on the edge of a dingy apartment building.

"Look what we have here Johnny, a lil' lady!" the drunken leer of a thug emanated from the alley way bellow her.

"Please, just take my wallet and leave me alone!" a frantic cry followed shortly.

"But that would be no fun, now would it." another thug said.

 _Two targets, probably armed. Drunk, so they're going to be unpredictable. Got it_. Caracal launched herself from the top of the building and dug her claws into the building opposite, slowing her descent. When she neared the ground she flipped off of the wall. The thugs just stared for a split second with their mouths open wide. She spotted the knives they were holding and took them into account as she sauntered closer.

"The lady said to leave her alone," she purred. She wasn't going to start spewing cat-puns, but it was a bit fun to get into the act of Caracal.

The larger of the two gave an angry roar and charged. Caracal waited until he got closer before stepping into his swing. She grabbed the wrist of the hand he held his knife in, while siamotainously smashing her forehead forward onto his. With the momentum of his charge, and the fact that her mask was made of a hard metal, he fell with a rather odd clanging noise. The knife skittered out of his hand, and Caracal's training as an assassin kicked in as she picked it up.

Without thinking she turned and prepared to throw it at the other thug-who until then had been uneasily standing in place-when she realized that she couldn't just do that anymore. _Stupid hero's_ , she thought bitterly as she cast it the ground. They always had to take the more complicated route.

"Look-Catwoman, right?-I can pay you-" the remaining thug began to say as she purposefully walked towards him.

Caracal let out an annoyed hissed and promptly downed him with the electrocution option of her gloves. She was _really, really_ , tired of being mistaken for Catwoman. _This is the last time I ever choose to go as a cat-themed vigilante in a city with a prominent cat-themed thief_. She sighed, before realizing that the lady who had been attacked by the thugs was still standing there with a shocked expression.

"Are you-" Caracal began to ask, when a flash of a colorful costume on the rooftop overhead caught her attention. _Was that Robin?_ "I've got to run-call the police, okay?" Caracal shot at the woman. Leaping onto the rusting fire escape of the building next to her Caracal rushed her way to the top. She was only pretending to be a vigilante afterall-her main job in Gotham was to attract the attention of the Bat. And wherever his sidekick was he probably was too.

As she reached the top of the building she saw the a glimpse of a black-and-yellow cape disappearing off of the side of the building. She ran, glimpsing the lower rooftop of the next building moments before she jumped off the building onto it. Her landing left something to be desired, and as she scrambled to stand up she saw a shadowy figure approaching. It had to be the Bat's sidekick since no one else in Gotham wore a red-and-black uniform like he did. "What's the rush, Bird-boy," Caracal asked as she stood up, slightly out of breath.

When he didn't respond immediately her suspicions were raised, but she brushed it off until she saw the staff in Robin's hands. "Bird-boy, it's me, Caracal. I'm on your side," she said, taking an uneasy step backwards. The last thing she wanted was to give herself a bad reputation by attacking the Bat's bird. It was a sure-fire way to mess up the plan.

Robin on the other hand didn't seem to have the same idea. His staff whistled as he swung it, and she barely ducked under it in time to avoid being smacked in the chest. _Am I really that forgettable?! I know the Bat wants me out of Gotham, but sending his sidekick after me? That's low. And not his style_. She tried one more time to call Robin off, but he still acted like he didn't-couldn't-hear her. _Alright, fine. Have it your way then._

Dodging a birdarang, Caracal leapt towards the boy with a hiss. He leapt backwards with a flip, throwing a few small pellets as he did. Samira's eyes grew wide as she realized what they were, and threw herself to the side right before they exploded. " _Kid_!" she yelped, staring at the boy wonder. She had only seen him occasionally, but something about the whole situation just felt horribly off. Her suspicion was only spurred on when he started to mutter something under his breath. _Alright, so bird boy's gone nutters_.

Scrambling up she ran at him. He whacked outwards with his staff, but his movements were slower than normal. _Almost like he's drugged_. Caracal grabbed onto the staff with both hands and pulled, something which she didn't think he had expected as it flew from his hands. He backed away slightly, lips moving as if he was speaking, but she couldn't hear anything. She stepped closer in pursuit, and was faced with a barrage of punches and kicks. One landed solidly in her ribs, and she fell back a few steps, the air blown out of her.

Robin launched three birdarangs at her, and she raised her forearm in front of her face. Two of them thudded into the metal-reinforced vambrace covering it, while the third left a long gash in her shoulder. She hissed, plucking the ones from her armguard and flinging them to the ground with an angry flick of her wrist. _So the Birdy wants to play rough_. Flicking on the electricity to her gloves she attacked again. Fainting a punch to his face she ducked low and swung her leg into the back of his knees.

He fell forward onto his face, and before he could get up or grab one of his many gadgets, Caracal pressed both electrified gloves onto his back. Robin fell still, a small wisp of black smoke curling from his cape. "Batman's going to kill me," Caracal sighed, staring at the costumed kid. She was out of breath, bleeding, and now stuck with an unconscious-possibly drugged-sidekick, who she had absolutely no clue what to do with.

* * *

An hour later Caracal was back on the rooftops of Gotham-but this time with a totally different agenda than crime fighting. She'd stashed Robin at the small apartment she'd been staying at for the past few weeks (after removing his tool belt and restraining him of course), and now was trying to find Batman. She hadn't wanted to just leave the kid, but something was wrong with him and she couldn't help him, not with what resources she had anyway.

A dark shape flitted against the moon, and Samira perked up. Tuning her cat-ears to a larger range she took off into the night once again-but this time after a much larger piece of prey than Robin. The gash on her shoulder stung as she pulled her way on top of a building, but she ignored it. Pain was an expected evil in her line of work. She couldn't let it slow her down.

Caracal was stalking across the top of the building when the voice she had come to know quite well sounded from behind her, "Is there a reason you're following me?"

She exhaled and closed her eyes for a long second before turning around and responding, "I think you're missing something,"-she tossed one of the birdarangs that she been carrying onto the ground- "or should I say someone."

A scowl was instantly on Batman's face, and he stepped a bit closer before demanding, "where is he."

Caracal sighed, exhaustion aching in her bones. "He's safe at the moment, but something is seriously wrong with him. It like he's been drugged or something."

"You left him _alone_?" Batman asked. Caracal could tell that he was trying to stay calm, but the concern in his voice was evident. That and he hadn't immediately accused her of kidnapping him, which she was grateful to let slide since she technically had just kidnapped his protégé.

"It was stay with him, or find you. And not all of us work with others," Caracal explained defensively. "What happened to him, Batman?" she questioned, tilting her head as she did.

"Scarecrow hit him with a new strain of fear gas, one my antidote didn't cover."

" _Didn't_?"

"It does now," was all the Bat said. "You're bleeding."

It took Caracal a moment to remember the gash, but when she did the stinging pain returned. "Oh. Your Birdy has claws worthy of a cat," she laughed. "We better go get your Bird before he gets out of the cuffs."

"We?"

"He's at _my_ apartment."

" _Oh_."

* * *

Samira had done a lot of things that _were_ weirder than running through Gotham with Batman, but with that being said, she'd done a lot of things that _weren't_ as weird. By the time they made it back to the apartment complex it was around four a.m. and Caracal was beyond tired.

"It's not much,"-she shrugged tiredly as she opened the door to her apartment- "but it works."

Once inside she stepped out of the way to let Batman get to his protégé -who had managed to get out of two of the handcuffs Caracal had put on him (which she may or may not have taken from Robin's utility belt), and was working on the third that bound his feet together. Batman shot her a weird look, so Caracal just shrugged in response and tossed him the key to the handcuffs. "It's not my first time dealing with escape-artists."

The antidote Batman had didn't take long to start working. Caracal felt like she was intruding on a private moment, so she slipped into the small kitchen to grab them both a glass of water (she didn't want to be a rude host-especially after she'd basically kidnapped the Batman's kid). She spent a lot longer filling the glasses then what was necessary before stepping back into the living room, only to find the Batman hugging Robin. _Cute,but kind of awkward for me_ , she thought as she hovered in the kitchen doorway.

When Batman let go of him she could see that Robin was out of the cuffs, and was looking _very_ confused. He was still sitting on the floor though, which Caracal generally took as a bad sign. "So how's he doing?" she asked, attempting to diffuse the awkwardness of the situation as she stepped into the small room further.

" _He_ can speak," Robin muttered.

"Recovering," was all that Batman offered.

She offered the glasses to the two, which was met only with condescending looks. "I'm not going to poison you guys," she scoffed. _Well, I would if I wasn't trying to stay undercover. But that would be a perfect way to say, hey, I'm an assassin! Look at me!_

After a few seconds Robin took one of the cups. Caracal was left to just stand there with Gotham cities well-known vigilantes in her living room-which wasn't a sentence she'd ever thought would be true in her life for multiple reasons.

She wasn't sure how much time passed before Robin had recovered enough to leave. Following slightly as the duo stepped into the hall she leaned against the doorframe. "What, no ' _get out of Gotham_ ' this time?" she joked lightly, though part of her wondered if the strange night was going to be some sort of turning point in the mission.

Batman didn't even turn around as he said, "we'll see."

* * *

"You're supposed to be in bed resting," Bruce said. It was the afternoon after the fight with Scarecrow-and the weird night event with Caracal-and Tim seemed to be trying to prove that he was fine.

"I've taken worse hits," he responded defensively. "Researching Caracal?" he said, motioning at the bat cave computer. Bruce nodded, clicking to the apartment registration he had dug up. "Samantha Johnson," Tim read aloud upon seeing the name at the top of it. "Let me guess-fake name?"

"Correct, there's no one by that name that fits her description."

"Well, at least she's not a villain. Gotham has enough of them already," Tim said lightly.

Bruce didn't respond verbally, but Tim picked up on the look in his eyes quickly. "You still don't like her, _do_ you?"

"No. She's still a kid and a liability."

" _I'm_ a kid technically."

Bruce just raised an eyebrow at the teens sass. "I'm going to talk with the other Leaguers first, but I'm thinking of putting her on the Team. If she's not going to stop, then she might as well be given a direction while doing it."

"Your call," Tim said with a shrug.

"And you should be back in bed."

"... _Fine_..."

* * *

 _I hadn't planned on updating this so soon, but the urge to write struck. I hope that the portrayal of both Batman and Robin didn't come off as too ooc in this chapter. Tim is an odd character to write, but he had a part to play. Anyways, thank you to those who reviewed last chapter, it's really appreciated!_


	3. Chapter Three

During her time in Gotham Samira had purposefully tried to avoid the city's more infamous villains. She wasn't there to get dosed up on Scarecrow's toxins, or Joker's venom. No, she was here to try and infiltrate a team of superheroes... which sounded about as fun as the first two options.

She had moved apartments the morning after the ordeal with Robin. There was no way she was comfortable with staying in a compromised place. It went against every ounce of training she had in her, so she had moved into an even worse apartment than the previous one. (Which was surprising, because she was honestly pretty sure that the last apartment was the worst one in Gotham. Apparently, one shouldn't challenge a city like Gotham).

Samira sat cross-legged on the old and musty couch, a police scanner she had bought from a hobby store sitting in her lap. She was working on configuring it to route through her masks comm unit, while also monitoring the activity in the city.

 _Two birds with one stone_... she mused silently. _Almooost done_.

At first the string of jargon entirely bypassed her, until one name caught her attention. _Two-face_. She dropped her tools, quickly putting her mask back together as she listened for the location and tried to figure out what was going on. From what she could gather it was an in-progress bank robbery being done by some of Two-face's men. _So the big-bad himself isn't there_.

It was a bigger crime, without the same exact risk of dealing with Gotham's more deranged villains. A perfect opportunity to try and prove once more that she was indeed a _hero_ , and possibly run into Batman.

 _As long as I don't get shot, this'll be perfect_. Caracal left through the window, dropping into the night city.

 _I wonder if it makes me a horrible person for being excited about this._

 _Eh, I'm already a pretty horrible person anyways._

* * *

Landing on a roof next to the bank she paused for a moment, tuning in to the police radio as she did. The situation only got worse the more she listened. _Hostages, multiple officers down, calls for reinforcement. This is a bigger deal than I thought._

The area around the bank was practically radiating with pulsing red-and-blue lights, and the long whine of the sirens was inescapable. It made Samira incredibly nervous to be near so many cops. They were generally bad news where she was concerned, since her normal job generally involved committing the crime instead of preventing it. (Since vigilantism was illegal she figured that not much had changed afterall).

Surveying the bank she decided that her best bet would be to break through one of the second story windows and make her way from there. With some luck she wouldn't be fighting them off alone for long - Batman would most likely be on his way. She hoped he was, partially because it would be a good casual way to show off that she was trying to help, and partially because there was no way going in alone was a foolproof plan.

Digging through one of her belt pouches she retrieved a small explosive charge and set its detonator to an eight second delay. Caracal then promptly aimed and threw it at the closest windows, because _girl dressed in cat costume killed by own device_ was not a headlined she was particularly fond of.

The explosion was enough to send shards of bullet-proof glass flying, garnering confused shouts from the cops below. Samira backed up on her rooftop, before taking a deep breath and running for the ledge, jumping and catching the ornate edging above the shattered window. It was a muscle-jarring landing, but she didn't pause to think about it and swung inside.

The heavily armed men who greeted her inside seemed highly confused. _They probably think I'm Catwoman_. Caracal didn't give them a chance to speak or move first, launching into an attack on the one closest to her.

The fighting was the only part of this that felt natural. She'd never actually tried to clear a bank of a heavily armed gang before, though she figured that it probably wasn't too different from her training on how to infiltrate and clear a guarded house. _Same idea, different layout_.

Dodging a rather well-aimed punch from the last remaining man from the welcoming comity she rolled behind him and up before he could turn. A chokehold and almost a minute later and he was down and out. She turned, fully expecting to find more men. Surprisingly, there was none in the dark hallway.

She heard gunfire, and rushed towards the railing that looked down onto the main floor of the bank. _If the hostages are hurt_... It was a worry stemming from multiple motives. It wouldn't look good for the mission, but Samira also hated unnecessary collateral damage. Innocents didn't need to die.

Instead of seeing what she feared she saw the intimidating and yet familiar black cape and cowl of Batman. An unbidden grin broke out on her face. Batman was the closest thing she has to an ally at the moment - which was pretty depressing since the majority of their interactions had been him telling her to get out of his city.

Dropping over the railing she landed on the shoulders of a gun-toting man who let out a surprised yelp before promptly crumpling. She got up and moved on quickly, trying to incapacitate anyone she came across as quickly as possible. It could have taken hours, or minutes, she wasn't sure. Time was always distorted when it came to fights.

A bullet buried into a wooden desk a few inches away from her, sending wood chips flying. "Rude..." she hissed, turning towards where it had come from, only to see a batarang hit the shooters hand seconds later.

The banks was very, very, quite after that. Looking around she realized that the goons were all on the floor or incapacitated in various ways. She also realized that she was very close to Batman, and that she couldn't read his emotions. If he was upset about her being there she couldn't tell.

"Are the hostages?..." she asked, breaking the silence.

"They're safe," the gruff reply came.

Caracal nodded, feeling just how fast her heart was racing from the fight. "Well I should probably be going, you know?"

Batman didn't respond, but he didn't make any move to stop her as she took a few steps back, and then for the window she had broken in through. _I wonder how he got in_ , she mused as she reached the top of the stairs. She glanced behind her to find the bank entirely bat-free.

 _Okay, I need to learn that trick_ , she decided as she slid out the window and into the night, the sound of the police charging into the building echoing behind her.

* * *

Samira made it about three whole blocks before a tall dark shadow stepped towards her on the rooftop she had just landed on. She jumped, mind racing. She doubted Queen Bee would send an agent to check on her - the entire mission _depended_ on her maintaining her cover. Her thoughts paused only when she saw the long, pointy ears.

"We need to talk," Batman said in his ever grave-and-serious voice.

 _Aaand that's not a good sign_. "What's up, Batman?" Caracal replied with a pep and confidence she so did not feel.

"What do you think you were doing?" his tone wasn't _angry_ per say, it was almost conversational in a parental way.

She took a moment to answer, wondering if this was a trick question. "I was trying to help," she replied firmly, casually keeping her distance from him.

"And what was your plan? To go in and _save the day_ on your own? No backup or anything?" his voice was its normal growl, but she felt there was something like regret mixed into it. Like he was thinking of a similar situation that had ended entirely different.

"That was primarily the plan," she said contentiously before remembering that she was trying to befriend the Bat (or at least not make him an enemy) and softened her tone. "But I also knew there was a high chance of you showing up. So, no, I wasn't planning on flying entirely solo."

Every interaction with Batman - and Robin by extension - felt like a test. Say the wrong thing and _bzzz_ she was out. Do the wrong thing and _bzzz_ mission failure.

Batman hadn't said anything yet, but he hadn't left either (Samira had heard he was pretty notorious for just disappearing in the middle of a sentence), so she tried to ease the silence and actually figure out what was going on. "So, was chewing me out the entire point of you being here or?"

"It was part of the reason, but not the entire one." There was something in his voice that sounded downright _ominous_. "You're obviously trained, and dedicated."

Caracal held up a gloved hand. "I feel a 'but' coming." _And that's not good_.

Batman nodded slightly before continuing, "But you're also young and unfocused."

It was easy to sigh dejectedly and cross her arms like the words actually hurt her that much. "And you feel, that if I continue doing this, then it'll end badly," her tone was just as dejected as her body language was.

"I think it'll end badly if you keep doing this _without guidance_." he clarified, stepping slightly closer.

Samira had to switch to a calming breathing exercise, her excitement making her pulse jump. Because this could be an in, it could be a start at least - right, she actually needed to respond. If he was talking about guidance then he might be talking about the Team. "So... what then? Are you offering to be my mentor, or?"

A small rueful smile crossed his face for a moment before it fell back into its serious lines. "No. What I am offering you is an internship of sorts."

The reply came naturally, rolling off her tongue without thought. She needed to keep up the pretense of having next to no idea that the Team existed. "An internship? Do you own a company or something?"

Batman continued on like he hadn't been interrupted. "They're called the Team and they work with the Justice League. Understand that if you do accept that it'll be a trial-period at first to see if you'll fit in."

Samira paused, pretending to actually be debating the question. An immediate response might garner some suspicion - which was the last thing she wanted. "So if I'm reading between the lines correctly, either I try-out for this 'Team' or I have to stop with the whole vigilante deal."

"To put it simply: yes, those are your options."

"Can I have a few days to think about it?" she sighed, acting as if it was a much harder choice to make.

"Think over it, but understand that if you decide to decline the offer and continue on as a vigilante then you won't be welcome in Gotham."

 _Well thank you mister ray of sunshine_. "How should I contact you when I make my decision?" she asked, only to look around and realize that she was alone on the rooftop. Batman had apparently decided to pull his infamous disappearing act on her.

"Dammit," she muttered, despite the fact that she felt like celebrating.

* * *

 _Earlier..._

"If you believe in this Caracal then I have no objections about her joining the Team," Black Canary said from where she was sitting with her legs crossed on one of the plush chairs in the room. Kaldur was sitting across from her, while Batman was standing by the tall window overlooking the earth. The Watchtower allowed for fantastic views, that always seemed to put things into perspective.

Batman hesitated, and his small grimace must have been more visible then he wanted it to be because Dinah said in the flattest voice possible, "You don't trust her."

"As far as every database I've tried is concerned, she doesn't exist. It's like she only started to exist when she began to be Caracal. With the level of skill she's displayed so far I find it incredibly concerning." Batman was open about his worries for once. This decision would affect them all after all.

Dinah tapped her fingers on her leg for a moment, clearly deep in thought.

Kaldur was the one to speak, warm voice careful as he spoke, "If she does not exist on any database, then we are left with two options: she has very talented friends, or she never existed on them to begin with."

"Do you feel like she is a threat?" Dinah said, head tilting as she did.

Batman hesitated, hating not knowing how to word it. He didn't trust the girl, but he didn't feel like she was an immediate threat either. Her motivations were unknown, and that was something he wasn't comfortable with. "I feel like she will be less of a threat if she's under the guidance of the Team. I'm not going to say that it won't end badly."

"If we are careful, then helping Caracal may be better than abandoning her," Kaldur added.

Dinah nodded in agreement. "The Team has showed that it can handle itself."

"Then it's settled. If she accepts the offer then she'll begin her trial period with the Team."

* * *

Samira really doubted Google would come up with any relevant results if she typed in: _how long should I wait before accepting an invitation to a superhero team to avoid seeming suspicious_. Which was annoying because waiting around her dumpy apartment for the last four days had been incredibly boring.

She had been able to get more sleep than she could ever remember getting, but there was only so much sleeping and tinkering with her gear she could do before going crazy.

It had struck her on the second day how much she missed having support on a mission. Just a familiar person, a handler or anyone really who knew what she was doing. It was rare for a spy or assassin to work without support mainly because it was plain stupid. Part of her was excited about getting to work with the Team simply because she missed having that support.

 _Except for the fact that I'm going to have to lie. About literally everything. Last time I checked, they weren't taking applications from assassins_.

Stretching, she reached for the large flashlight and black construction paper she'd bought earlier. Snagging the pair of scissors off of the floor she set about cutting a vaguely-bat-shaped piece out of the paper, and then taping it down to the flashlight. If it didn't work, it didn't work. But if it was possible to _not_ run all over Gotham looking for Batman she would take it.

* * *

She set up a few blocks away from her apartment on the roof of an abandoned building, the mini-bat signal set up to reflect on the near-constant clouds of Gotham. The night was warmer, and Samira found that she didn't actually hate the city that much as she sat cross-legged on the roof.

A few hours later and Caracal was regretting every life choice she'd ever made because sitting on a roof was mind-numbingly boring. Realizing that her little bat-signal idea wasn't going to work she stood up, turning to pick up the signal when she spotted the dark shape that could only be Batman. _No one else in this city lurks in the shadows as much as Batman._

"And how long have you been there?" She asked, thoroughly unimpressed. Sure, she found the Bat intimidating, but she had also just sat on a rooftop for several hours and was over his antics for the night.

"Not long," the reply didn't do much to soothe her.

 _Oh, just get over it_ , she snapped at herself silently, _you have a mission_.

"I accept your offer to join the Team," she said in a formal tone.

 _Hacker voice: I'm in._

* * *

 _So ah, hi? Sorry for disappearing for so long? Life kind of kicked my butt for awhile there. I honestly thought about just rewriting this story, but ultimately I decided to just go with it. Thank you so much to the people who reviewed, you're honestly the reason I got motivation to resume this!_

 _(Sidenote: Samira is 100% jealous of Batman's ability to just disappear like he does.)_


End file.
